Every parent wants to be the “cool” parent – that dad or mom that all the other kids love and want to hang out with. I’m that dad: at least in my mind. The reality is I’m still my kids’ “Old Man” and the sooner I recognize that the better. This experience was driven home recently when I went with my boys, and my son’s girlfriend, to The Outside Music Festival in San Francisco.
The generations collide yet again as Dad gets down – way down – while attending The Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco with Son. Dad references Woodstock to which Son is lost. Heck, Son wishes he was really lost – away from Dad and “his moves!” Of course, everyone knows that I’m NOT That Dad, though I did happen to attend Outside Lands. Enjoy The Best of Outside Lands 2013, a 12-minute highlights video and A Taste of Paul, short clips from Paul McCartney’s nearly 3-hour opening night performance.
I just attended the Outside Land Music Festival, in San Francisco, with my teen son and two of his female friends. It proved to be a rare opportunity to relive my youth, experience those feelings of excitement only a 15-year-old can feel, and vicariously share it all through their eyes and the excitement they radiated the entire time.
The line-up was extraordinary and included Incubus, Black-Eyed Peas, Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, and Tom Jones, the current retro star of this generation. And, the Welsh hipster didn’t disappoint as, at 69, he put on a show that rivaled any of the younger headliners. The crowd of kids knew every word of every one of his songs.
